Railway car diaphragm



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jo/zmfl WZI dZZZ/Zd, BY 7 M J. A. WENDLANDRAILWAY CAR DIAPHRAGM Filed 001;. 24, 1945 April 15, 1947 April 1947- J.A. WENDLAND RAILWAY CAR DIAPHRAGM Filed Oct. 24, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Apr. 15, 1947 RAILWAY CAR DIAPHRAGM John A. Wendland, Elkhart,Ind., assignor to The Adlake Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation ofIllinois Application October 24, 1945, Serial No. 624,188

4 Claims.

This invention has to do with railway car diaphragms of the so-calledaccordion type.

For many years it has been the practice to make such diaphragms out oflubricated belting material, the belting material being highlylubricated in order to permit the folds and corners of the diaphragms tobend and flex in various directions without breaking down the threads inthe material. With the advent of more modern designs in railway cars thenecessarily dark and tarry appearance of the diaphragms caused by thepresence of the lubricant has become objectionable, with the result thatattempts have been made to improve the appearance of the diaphragms bygiving them a silvery or other light colored effect, by paint or plasticcoatings, to

harmonize with the decorations of the car as a whole. It has been foundthat such coatings do not adhere satisfactorily to the surface for anylength of time, due to the oily character of the lubricant, and attemptshave therefore been made to construct surface finished diaphragms fromlubricant-free fabrics. These attempts have not been successful, owingto the rapid breakdown of the fabric at the upper corners of thediaphragm where the fabric is ordinarily formed into gussets or foldsand the bending and flexing are most pronounced.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved diaphragmof the accordion type in which the top and leg members are so connectedat the corners as to produce a freeacting, weather-tight, wear-resistingstructure without the necessity of having the fabric from which themembers are made highly lubricated, thus enabling the surface of thefabric to be left either in its natural state or finished with anydesired decorative coating.

While the foregoing statements are indicative in a general Way of thenature of the invention, other more specific objects and advantages willbe apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of theconstruction of the improved diaphragm.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is presented herein by way ofexemplification but it will of course be appreciated that the inventionis susceptible of incorporation in other structurally modified formscoming equally Within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a face view of a single-fold diaphragm constructed inaccordance with the invention, with the intermediate portions of thevertical leg members broken away;

on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is another edge view of the upper portion of the diaphragm,showing the latter in its fully extended position;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken on the line 88 of Fig.7;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of one of the soft pliant corner pieces, beforeits application to the edges of the top and leg members; and

Fig. 10 is an edge view of the upper portion of a. two-fold diaphragm,similarly constructed in accordance with the invention.

Diaphragms of the accordion type are ordinarily of either single-fold ortwo-fold construction. While the present invention is equally applicableto either construction, a single-fold diaphragm is shown. in Figs. 1 to9, inclusive, for simplicity of illustration. This diaphragm, like otherdiaphragms of the accordion type, is adapted to be positioned betweenand secured to the end of the car and the face plate, whereby to form aclosed passageway from the vestibule of one car into the vestibule ofthe next.

As will be observed in Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, the diaphragm consists,of separate top and leg channel members Ill and H which are constructedof thick longitudinally stiff fabric,v preferably three-ply beltingmaterial. These members are of outwardly opening generally U-shapedcross section with reference to the passage through the diaphragm andare contractible andv extensible in a direction at right angles to theirlengths. The top member ID is disposed in a generally horizontalposition and the ends l2 of the top member are arranged within thecontour of the upper ends l3 of the leg members. The upper ends l3 ofthe leg members are centrally cut away to provide recesses M of upwardlyopening generally U-shaped form for the free reception of the ends l2 ofthe top member.

At the upper corners of the diaphragm the ends l2 of the top member areconnectedwith the ends I3 of the leg members by means of free actingcorner pieces l5 of relatively thin, soft, pliant material. Chromeleather has been found ex- 3 cellent for this purpose. The corner piecesI5 are of generally L-shaped form, as shown in Fig. 9, and are sewed orotherwise secured along their reentrant edges 16 to the edges [1 of thends of the top member and along their opposed edges l8 to the edges i9of the U-shaped recesses in the upper ends of the leg members. Thecorner pieces l5 are loosely sleeved back under the ends I2 of thetop'member in variably divergent relation thereto, the positions assumedby the corner pieces with respect to the ends of the top and leg membersdepending upon the degree of contraction or extension of the diaphragm.In an'extremely contracted position, such as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thecorner pieces I5 will be so disposed as to more or less snugly conformto the convex surface of the top member In, whereas in an extremelyexpanded'position of the diaphragm, such as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, thecorner pieces l5 will diverge more or less abruptly from the convexsurface of the top member.

In order to obtain a nicely tailored fit of the corner pieces IE to theedges of the top and leg members some additional fullness is desirablein the corner pieces at 23, along their edges NB. This added fullnessmay be obtained without difficulty by cutting each of the corner piecesin two identical sections 21 and providing them with edges 22 which areadapted to be overlapped and sewn together at 23 in generally parallelrelation. The edges 22 are initially cut with an outward curve at 24 andthereafter sewed together in a more or less straight line, whereby toproduce the desired fullness at 20.

Fig. shows a two-fold, as distinguished from single-fold, diaphragmconstructed i accordance with the invention. In this diaphragm two setsof top and leg members it and I i, similarly joined by corner pieces I5,are employed.

The improved diaphragm is adapted to effectively withstand the folding,creasing, buckling and twisting to which diaphragms are constantlysubjected in modern high speed railway operation, and will givesatisfactory service over a long period of time because of the freelyyieldable nal ture of the novel corner connections, which connectionsreadily conform to the expansion and contraction of the diaphragm at thecorner locations, without undue strains or stresses.

I claim:

1. In a railway car diaphragm of the accordion type, separate top andleg channel members of flexible sheet material, which members are ofoutwardly opening cross section and are collapsible and extensible inadirection at right angles to their lengths, the ends of the top memberextending laterally into the upper ends of the le members, and the upperends of the leg members being centrally relieved to provide upwardlyopening recesses for the free reception of the ends of the top member,and corner pieces of relatively thin soft-pliant material which aresecured along lapsed or extended.

4 certain of their edges to the edges of the ends of the top member andalong their remaining edges to the edges of the recesses in the upperends of the leg members, with the corner pieces loosely sleeved backunder the ends of the top member in variably divergent relation theretodepending upon the degree to which the diaphragm is col- 2. In a railwaycar diaphragm of the accordion type, separate top and leg channelmembers of thick longitudinally stiff fabric, which members are ofoutwardly opening generally U-shaped cross section and are collapsibleand extensible in a direction at right angles to their lengths, the endsof the top member extending laterally into the upper ends of the legmembers, and the upper ends of the leg members being centrally relievedto provide recesses of upwardly openin generally U-shaped form for thefree reception of the ends of the top member, and corner pieces ofrelatively thin soft pliant material of generally L-shaped form whichare secured along their reentrant edges to the edges of the ends of thetop member and along their opposed edges to the edges of the U-shapedrecesses in the upper ends of the leg members, with the corner piecesloosely sleeved back under the ends of the top member in variablydivergent relation thereto depending upon the degree to which thediaphragm is collapsed or extended.

3. In a railway car diaphragm of the accordion type, separate top andleg channel members of thick longitudinally stiff multi-ply fabric,which members are of outwardly opening generally U- shaped cross sectionand are collapsible and extensible in a direction at right angles totheir lengths, the ends of the top member extending laterally into theupper ends of the leg members, and the upper ends of the leg membersbeing centrally relieved to provide recesses of upwardly openinggenerally U-shaped form for the free reception of the ends of the topmember, and corner pieces of relatively thin soft pliant leather ofgenerally L-shaped form which are secured along their reentrant edges tothe edges of the ends of the top member and along their opposed edges tothe edges of the U-shaped recesses in the upper ends of the leg members,with the corner pieces loosely sleeved back under the ends of the topmember in variably divergent relation thereto depending upon the degreeto which the diaphragm is collapsed or extended.

4. A railway car diaphragm of the construction set forth in claim 1, inwhich said corner pieces are members of generally L-shaped form whichare composed of a plurality of initially flat pieces of material, whichpieces are joinedtogether in such manner as to produc in the cornerpieces additional fullness along the center portions of the outer edgesof the latter.

JOHN A. WENDLAND.

